CHAPTER VII 
LiTTBR VIII. Myola (ftfff/.)— Homesick— Native customs— The ordeal 
of a Kipper — Plreparing for camp life — Sleeping in the open — A 
mirage — ^The pitiless sun — Mrs, S. has '' sunstroke " — ^A gallop and 
another breakdown — ^Arrival at Herberton — Rest. 
Myola. 
After four days I had had enough of Geoi^e- 
town, and its " distractions " began to pall on me. I 
was quite homesick too. "Every dog," they say, 
" has its day," and I am sure every cat her night, for 
they used to congregate on the roof and kept me from 
getting any sleep. As they played Romeo and Juliet 
crescendos came very much into their love-making. Un- 
fortunately also, we were there on Saturday and Sunday, 
when miners in this thirsty country come in and " knock 
down " their weekly earnings. I had seen, too, what 
little there was of interest all around. Indeed, the 
natives were the chief attraction to me, as I liked noting 
the points of difference between them and those other 
tribes I had so far encountered. These were a 
wretched-looking, misshapen and repulsive race. Away 
from the outskirts of civilisation, they live on roots 
which they dig up with pointed clubs called nuUa- 
nuUas. When the yellow cones of the Bunya tree (a 
kind of pine) are ripe, they congregate together in great 
numbers and have feasting and corroboreeing. Snakes, 
lizards, kangaroos, bandicoots, and opossums also come 
Digitized by LnOOQ IC 
